Improvement in dies for making the heads of chain-swivels



Y W. C. EDGE.

Dies for. Making the Heads of'Chavin-Swivels. N0.l64.3'66.

Patented June 15, 1875.

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NTTED STATES ATENT Eric.

WILLIAM c. EDGE, 0E NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, AssieNoR To sMILLIE, DoRRANcE a EDGE, or NEW YORK ciTY.

IMPROVEMENT IN DIES FOR MAKING THE HEADS 0F CHAIN-SWIVELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 164,366, dated June l5, 1875; application iled April 16, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM CHARLES EDGE, of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Machine for, and Process of, Making the Heads of Chain-swivels, of which the following is a specification This invention has for its object to manufacture the heads of watch-chain swivels from sheet metal, and to dispense with the casting, boring, and turning of solid swivels.

By my invention a perfect swivel-head can be formed from a small piece of sheet metal, not exceeding one-half inch in diameter, said sheet being either entirely of gold or other precious metal, or merely plated therewith on one face, in which latter case the plating will,

\ under my process, be caused to embrace the entire finished swivel.

My invention consists, principally, in subjecting the sheet metal to a series of punches and dies,wherebyitis iirst caused to acquire a cup form, then a more and more elongated cup form, and tinallythe pearshape orother shape generallyimparted to the heads of watch-chain swivels. This hollow sheet-metalpear is, lastly, subjected to the action of a pair of hollow molds, within which it is turned to receive the complete outline nish required. During the upsetting process, and before receiving the pear form, a square hole is punched through the end of the blank to allow the blank to be held on the end of a square rod and turned within the reciprocating molds while receiving the nal outline finish. My invention also consists in the new mechanism for imparting the pear form to the blank, said mechanism being composed of a fixed die, reciprocating punch, guide-ring, and spring-ejector, all as hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawing, Figs. l, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 represent side views,partly in section, of the tools which are successively employed by me in forming the swivel-head from a fiat plate of sheet metal. Fig. 9 is a face view, partly in section, of the finishingmolds.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

The letter a in Fig. 1 represents a section of a sheetmetal disk, which is, by a punch, b, cut from a suitable plate or sheet. This circular blank a is next laid over the cavity of a die, d2, as in Fig. 2, and subjected to the action of a descending plunger, b2, which upsets the blank, and drives it through the die, from which it will drop in form ot' a short cup, a2. The cup a2 is next placed bottom downward on a die, d3, 3, whose cavity is somewhat smaller than that in d2, and subjected to the action of a descending plunger, b3, which is smaller than b2, and which, in driving the blank through the die, elongates it, producing a cup, a3, somewhat longer and smaller in diameter than a2. The cup a3, not yet having the requisite length, thinness, and reduction of diameter, is next put bottom downward over the cavity of a die, d4, and subjected to the action of a still smaller punch, b4, by which it will be driven through the die d4, and formed into the still more elongated cupa4. (Shown in Fig. 4.) It may be presumed that the cup has now the requisite extent; but l wish it to be understood that either a larger or a smaller number of punches and dies maybe used to upset the blanks and gradually elongate the cup formed therefrom. Over each of the dies cZ2,fZ3,and dlis placed a guide-ring, e, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, which ring serves to prevent the spreading of the blank above the respective surfaces of the dies. The next operation is to pierce a square hole through the end of the blank, which is done by a suitable punch, j', and die g, as indicated in Fig. 5.

The blank a4 is now placed with its edges downward in the tapering cavity of a die, d5, and gradually forced into said cavity by a plunger, b5, which has its lower end made concave, as shown in Fig. 6, so it Will iit the rounded end of the blank. To insure central guidance the plunger b5 has by preference a projecting pin, h, which enters the aforementioned square hole in the end of the blank. A guide-ring, e5, is placed on the die d5 to embrace the blank before it has been forced down, and preventthe samefrombeingspread. Within the cavity ofthe die d5 is placed a pin, i5, resting on a suitable spring, j5. When the blankis by the plnn ger forced into the die d5 the lower part of the blank is gradually contracted by entering the contracted part of the cavity of the die, and assumes a shape approaching the form of a pear. In descending the blank forces the pin t5 downward and compresses the spring j, the effect of which will be that, upon the elevation of the plunger, the spring, in expanding, will raisethe pin i5, and thereby throw the blank out of the die. Fig. 6 shows the blank a5 in the position of being just raised out ofthe die afterhaving been shaped therein. Theblank cis next placed with its edges down-- ward in the tapering cavity of another die, d5, shown in Fig. 7, which die, with all its appurtenances, is substantially like th at represented in Fig. 6, excepting that the cavity of the die d6 is more tapered, so the blank will have its open end still more contracted, as appears from the shape of the blank a6, in Fig. 7, that being the shape imparted to the blank in the die d6.

Apparatus of the same style as that shown the same or its equivalent may be employed.

at any other stage of the operation. The square hole may even be punched through the iiat blank a, or through the end of the pearshaped blank a6. the squared end of a rod, A, shown in Fig. 8, said rod being inserted through the square hole in the end of the blank, and by means of said rod, which constitutes a handle for the blank, the latter is held between two metal molds, B and C. The shape of the complete swivel-head is formed as a cavity in the contiguous surfaces of the molds B C, one-half in each mold, as indicated in Fig. 8. The upper The blank c6 is now put on' mold B receives reciprocating motion by suitable mechanism, and whenever itis raised off the mold C the attendant turns the blank slightly in the mold C. So a new surface of the blank will be exposed to the action of the reciprocating mold on each descent. Thus, by turning the blank beneath the reciprocating mold, the same finally receives the required shape, being in exact conformity with the form of the recesses in the molds B and C. The swivel-head ai as it comes from the molds B C is in condition for application to the other parts of a chain-swivel. rlhe reciprocating mold B and stationary mold C may also be employed for shaping cast swivelheads, where a continuous row of such heads is cast in one piece, those projecting from the molds serving in such a case as handles for those subjected to the action of the molds.

I claim as my invention- 1. The series of dies herein described for making the heads of chain-swivels.

2. rlhe combination of the dies b2 d2 b3 df d5 b5, and molds B C, for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of the die d5, guide-ring e5, plunger b5, pin 5 and spring j, arranged for the purpose of contracting the open end of the cup-shaped swivel-head blank, substantially as set forth.

4. The reciprocating mold B, combined with the stationary mold C, the opposite faces of the two molds having cavities for the reception of aswivel-head blank, a, which is to be formed into a swivel-head, a7, by the operation of the molds, substantially as specified.

Signed this 8th day of April, 1875.

WILLIAM C. EDGE.

Witnesses:

E. C. WEBB, J'. V. BRrEsEN. 

